In Our View: Keep Eye on Marijuana

Legal pot's first year yields few surprises, but legitimate concerns remain

A little more than one year into legalized marijuana use for adults in Washington, topics of concern about the drug remain little changed. Marijuana use by minors and those who drive under the influence continue to be the biggest issues with this journey into uncharted territory — and they will require diligence from regulators and law enforcement.

Washington voters approved Initiative 502 in November 2012 with 56 percent of the vote, and legal marijuana stores were up and running by the summer of 2014. While data are still being formulated, a picture of the impact of legalization is becoming clearer. As Patty Hastings recently reported in The Columbian, “As is evident by millions of dollars in sales each month at Vancouver’s retail stores, people certainly use marijuana. And it has had some consequences on the community, but there’s apparently no evidence of major behavioral shifts.”

That echoes arguments that were used in support of legalization (The Columbian editorially supported passage of I-502) — that many adults already were using marijuana, and that enforcing antiquated laws against the drug were a poor use of public funds. Meanwhile, concerns about the negative impacts of legalization apparently are playing out as expected.

To start with, officials see little or no increase in marijuana use by teenagers, judging by surveys and by court records involving the referral of minors to Clark County Juvenile Court. In implementing legalization, Washington took strong measures to limit the impact on teenagers, from restrictions upon the location of marijuana shops to educational programs alerting teens to the dangers of the drug.

Those dangers are particularly crucial for teens. Studies have demonstrated that the brains of young adults are not fully formed, making them particularly susceptible to the impact of psychoactive drugs. As legalization sends the message that society approves of marijuana use on some level — a message that underplays the dangers — it will be essential for teenagers to be educated regarding its effects. Just as they did prior to legalization, many teens will face making personal decisions about marijuana use, and a robust societal discussion can be more beneficial than prohibition in helping them navigate those decisions.

Another overriding concern about legalization — the prospect of more people driving under the influence of marijuana — also has yielded few surprises, as the Washington Traffic Safety Commission has found that marijuana has increasingly become a factor in fatal crashes. In 2014, among 619 drivers involved in fatal crashes, 75 tested positive for recently using cannabis — about twice as many as in 2010.

At the same time, it should be noted that half of last year’s marijuana-positive drivers also were under the influence of alcohol — with many of those surpassing the legal limit for driving.
The issue of driving under the influence of marijuana has exacerbated the difficulty of the job faced by law enforcement. Marijuana acts differently upon the body than alcohol, making it difficult to assess a driver’s level of impairment. But researchers at Washington State University are working on a roadside breath test for marijuana use — a matter of necessity being the mother of invention.

Overall, the legalization of marijuana has been fairly smooth. Like any societal change, it is imperfect; like any action with inherent drawbacks, it will require continued diligence. But the positives of ending an unenforceable prohibition continue to outweigh the negatives.